Peter Moe’s family visited the Arboretum regularly when he was a boy, living in Richfield. But it wasn’t until he was in college, studying horticulture science at the University of Minnesota, that he landed his first Arboretum job, almost by happenstance.
It was the summer of 1973 when a curious, horticulture-loving Moe fatefully decided to tag along for a trip to the Arboretum with his mother, who was visiting with her Bachelor Buttons Garden Club.
Seeing a staff member on the grounds, Moe asked if there were any open positions for the summer.
“Actually,” a staff member said, “we just had someone leave today, so we have an open position. Can you start … tomorrow?”
Peter Moe started as an Assistant Student Gardener at the Arboretum in 1973.
Arboretum gardener Jim Lewis (left) and Peter Moe take a short break during work at the Arboretum in 1978.
From digging in the dirt to directing
Moe, of course, said yes. But how could he have known then how much the Arboretum would change his life — or that he would one day become its iconic leader?
Along the way, Moe met his wife, Susan, who was working as a plant breeder in the azalea trial garden. They built a life together in Carver County and raised three children.
Peter Moe worked long and hard at the Arb — digging in the dirt, supervising others and even working at the Horticultural Research Center for a time as a Research Plot Technician.
Peter Moe checks on the azalea research beds at the Arboretum in 1993 with his 1-year-old daughter, Sharon, and 5-year-old son, Anders. Today, Moe’s entire family are U of M graduates with CFANS connections, including his wife, Susan Moe, with a bachelor’s in horticultural science, his sons, Erik and Anders, and his daughter, Sharon.
Peter Moe was part of the Arboretum horticulture staff in 1984 (back row, second from the left).
After Moe graduated from the Horticultural Science Department at the University of Minnesota, he accepted a string of successful promotions — including the roles of Landscape Maintenance
Supervisor, Operations Director (1991-2016) and eventually Director (2016-2023) — at one of the most well-regarded public gardens in the country. Last June, Moe announced his retirement.
“It’s been an incredible journey from student gardener to director.” Moe said. “I feel so fortunate to not only have witnessed the astonishing growth of the Arboretum, but to have also had the opportunity to shape it as well.”
Moe will be succeeded by Andrew Gapinski, who previously worked as the Director of Horticulture at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston — North America’s oldest public arboretum. Gapinski was chosen from a finalist pool by Dean Brian Buhr at the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS) at the University of Minnesota.
The Arboretum display garden areas — in front of and behind — the Snyder Building had only small-statured plants in the early days.
50 years of growth
This coming summer would have marked 50 years of employment for Moe at the Arboretum, which was founded just 65 years ago, in 1958.
When Moe accepted his first Arboretum role, many of the early tree, shrub and perennial collections had been established as part of the property’s first 15 years, along with woodland and prairie restoration areas. But there were no major buildings on site until the 1974 completion of the Leon C. Snyder Education & Research Building, which served as the first visitor center, research headquarters and education center, all in one.
Moe moved the furniture into the Arboretum director’s office for former director and Arboretum co-founder Dr. Leon Snyder. He never thought that it would one day be his office.
The Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center opened in 2016.
Today, numerous roads, trails and buildings grace the dramatically expanded 1,200-acre grounds, including a beautiful and inviting Oswald Visitor Center in 2005, and in 2016, an award-winning Tashjian Bee and Pollinator Discovery Center at the Farm at the Arb (dedicated in 2019 with a restored big Red Barn).
In March, a new 4,500-square-foot Burton & Virginia Myers Education Center opening for class participants at the Farm at the Arb and will serve as the home for the Arboretum's Adult Education team and a statewide headquarters for the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardener Volunteer Program.
Photo by Jason Boudreau-Landis
Prioritizing workers
Though Moe had a hand in many of the recent building openings on the Arboretum’s campus, the one he’s most proud of is actually closed to the public: It’s the Horticulture and Operations Headquarters, located on a private southern site at the Arb. The 12,000-square-foot architect-designed building serves as a home base for the horticulture, curatorial and mechanical staff at the Arboretum.
“Plans for the headquarters had been in two previous capital campaigns with zero dollars raised. That was my first priority as director — to get that done,” Moe said. “Several longtime donors stepped forward and made major gifts and then many Foundation Trustees, Arboretum Auxiliary members and other donors made gifts as well.”
In 2020, the headquarters took the place of the pole shed that was used previously for staff, including Moe himself during his earlier roles at the Arboretum. Workers now have adequate
office space, workstations and a light-filled break room with views of tree collections on nearby hillsides. Two new greenhouses are part of the headquarters as well.
Peter Moe helped dedicate the Red Barn at the Farm at the Arb in 2019.
Reaching beyond the Arboretum
Arboretum Trustee Jenny Verner said Moe wasn’t just a leader of staff, but an influencer among visitors, members, donors, volunteers, politicians and University leadership. He became the face of the Arboretum over the years, speaking to public groups, offering support through ground-breakings and gala events and private events with donors, supporters and business sponsors.
“We are going to greatly miss Pete,” Verner said. “The Trustees have enjoyed complete confidence in Pete’s integrity and knowledge — we knew when he made a commitment we could rely on him to make it happen. He has embodied the brand of the Arboretum.”
Peter Moe traveled to numerous cities and countries as part of the Arboretum’s Garden Travel Tours programming, which helps raise money for the Arboretum.
Verner said Moe has been generous with his time, skills and his shared passion for the Arboretum.
“We are so grateful for all Pete has done over his career to bring the joy of nature to millions of Arb visitors,” Verner said. “We wish him and Susan the very best in their next act, and look forward to seeing them at the Arb.”
Photo by Robert Evans Imagery
Apples and education
Moe is delighted to see how far the fruit-breeding program has come at the Arboretum, including cold-hardy apples such as the Honeycrisp in 1991, which made an impact around the world.
Moe has also loved seeing the Arboretum’s effects on children’s education over the years.
The Marion Andrus Learning Center is open to those registered for field trips and Arboretum classes. The Green Play Yard and Under the Oak play areas behind the Learning Center are open to all visitors.
He witnessed the opening — and expansion of — the Marion Andrus Learning Center (established in 1983), fueled by a large demand for science and horticulture education among kids and adults, who now take classes in person and virtually.
Peter Moe speaks at the dedication of the Highway 5 Regional Trail Connection on Arboretum land, leading to the gatehouse.
Moe and the employees at the Arboretum not only survived the chaos of pandemic — including public shutdowns, masking mandates and vaccination requirements — but fostered a massive boom in online learning, bringing countless newcomers to horticulture, art and culture classes.
Though borne out of necessity, today those online classes are still thriving, providing opportunities for adult registrants statewide and beyond. Field Trips in a Box have continued to bring education to classrooms around the state, especially those too far to visit the Arboretum in person.
In-person children’s programming — such as Green Been Family Garden Time — are still popular and many of the Arboretum’s day camps for summer often sell out in a few hours.
“Parents who started out as kids in our children’s gardening programs decades ago are bringing their kids back today to those same programs to learn at the Arb,” Moe said.
The Arboretum’s Eastern Drive from the Hedge Collection to the Farm at the Arb (pictured) was renamed Peter C. Moe Drive in 2022 in honor of Moe’s years of service.
Peter C. Moe Drive
Moe’s legacy won’t be forgotten thanks to a significant change to the Arboretum grounds signage in 2022. That’s when the Arboretum changed the name of Eastern Drive to Peter C. Moe Drive.
“I was so surprised, and so delighted, when the Arboretum presented the sign to me at an All Staff Meeting,” Moe said.
The U of M had owned the property traversed by the Eastern Drive since the late 1960s, but there was no public access to the southeastern side of the Arb, Moe said. A road was shown in the general area in several earlier master plans, but it was never funded or built.
“As we proceeded with plans to build the Bee Center and the Farm at the Arb – the need for access from Three-Mile Drive became a priority,” Moe said. “I could tell from reviewing the construction drawings that the drive had been expertly designed to follow the contours of the rolling terrain and that the drive would provide a beautiful access to the new developments.”
It’s a beautiful legacy to leave, Moe said.
“It’s truly a great honor both because of the quality design and construction and because it opens up large areas of currently open fields for new tree collections,” Moe said. “It means a lot to me.”
Tulip season was a favorite not just of visitors, but also of Peter Moe, who loves to see the public enjoy them every season. Photo by Jason Boudreau-Landis
Sharing the beauty of the Arb
Moe said his greatest accomplishment is to have brought so much joy and peace to visitors during his various roles — from gardener to executive.
“I’m especially fond of seeing people of all ages enjoying the beauty of 40,000 blooming tulips, hundreds of flowering crabapples, lilacs and azaleas,” he said, “as well as some of the most outstanding tree collections in the country.”
One of the milestones during Moe’s tenure was reaching more than 500,000 visitors in a single fiscal year with 534,292 visitors in Fiscal Year 2022.
“Now, rather than saying, ‘almost half a million,’ we can confidently say we’re bringing the healing power of nature to a true half-million people each year,” Moe said.
In 2013, Moe started the Arboretum’s Plant Conservation Program to preserve and restore Minnesota's native plants, including 48 species of orchids.
Moe said he is looking forward to spending time both at the Arboretum as a visitor and volunteer in addition to enjoying outings to other natural areas to observe native orchids, such as the state flower, the showy lady’s slipper, pictured above.
Sarah Jackson is a PR / Media Specialist at the Arboretum. An abridged earlier version of this story appeared in the Arboretum magazine in 2022.